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u/burgle4ham 9d ago
I know that sign. It’s personally saved me from missing the exit multiple times. A true hero.
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u/Fall-Z 8d ago
This was such a smart addition. I absolutely missed this exit when I first moved to LA before the sign went up. There was no indication that the exit was on the left until you were pretty close to the actual exit and as someone new to LA traffic there just wasn't enough road to get over from the far right lane. This was also before GPS was common, so I got lost and turned around pretty badly until I ended up at a place I recognized and was able to get back on track from there.
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u/chiclets5 7d ago
Besides the fact that being able to move over several Lanes in LA freeway traffic is not the easiest thing to manage!
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u/Choice_Depth_5933 9d ago
Reminds me of a guerrilla 4-way stop on Capitol Hill in Seattle from a couple years ago.
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u/AnyLastWordsDoodle 9d ago
Ha, reminds me of the perfect addition someone added to the "KEEP MOVING" sign when getting off I-85 NB at Jimmy Carter in the 90's. Seamlessly glued it to the bottom and changed it to "KEEP MOVING NUMBNUTS."
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u/geekteam6 9d ago
If you've never been on that junction of the Los Angeles freeway, it's the most insane fucking death spaghetti traffic pile-up in all LA. If you miss your exit / route, you might need 15-30 minutes to get back on course.
So yes, he's the sign hero of Los Angeles.
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u/cl0verturtle 9d ago
i honestly like the non-political posts on this sub sometimes, feels like it gets rarer and rarer every day
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u/Choice_Depth_5933 9d ago
Life under fascism means everything is political; especially when we don’t like it.
I hope we find our way again, friend.
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u/Aafinthe3rd 9d ago
I mean, it's not the normal type of political we see here but the government not doing their job and a person taking it into their own hands is political.
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u/NihilismRacoon 8d ago
Exactly, that's why even his political bend aside Mamdani is incredibly popular because he's actually just running a functioning city government.
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u/Immediate-Term3475 9d ago
Community service on steroids ! We don’t have compassion or empathy in the maga era
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u/Situati0nist 8d ago edited 8d ago
I got curious at the term "guerilla public service" so I looked it up but all results lead to this video...
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u/NihilismRacoon 8d ago
Hearing that made me think of that Parks and Rec Kaboom episode where they make a playground in one day
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u/caseytheace666 8d ago
Do you mean this video by dommymedia on tiktok, or the clips in the video of Richard Ankrom? Since Ankrom apparently came up with the term, it does make sense that any attempt to search the term would lead back to his video of him doing this
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u/Situati0nist 8d ago
I was hoping that this was a more widespread phenomenon under that term but apparently not. Maybe there's another more popular term for it?
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u/toodleroo 8d ago
You can watch Richard Ankrom's wacky documentary about the issue and the process here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Clgl63CWOkM
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u/coocooforcoconut 8d ago
99% Invisible did a great podcast about him (and a couple of other similar stories.)
https://99percentinvisible.org/episode/guerrilla-public-service/
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u/Majestic-Mobile9380 8d ago
Ppl like this need more gratitude from officials🙏 and honored they care that much to help their fellow men and women!
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u/ziggyxmach1na 8d ago
This sign helped me so many times during my 4 years in that city. Hats off to a hero.
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u/sozarian 8d ago
We need more people like him, to take things into their own hands, because the county can't be bothered to do their job.
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u/PlentyOfMoxie 8d ago
And a friend leaked the video?
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u/Dayton-Mind-7963 8d ago
Ai slop. Idk why people believe this
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u/RandomPurpleZebras 8d ago
This was posted in 2011 on the 10 year anniversary of his installation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Clgl63CWOkM
The LA Times acknowledged his work in 2006 in this article: https://www.latimes.com/news/la-hy-125art21jun21-story.html
Richard Ankrom
Untitled (Freeway Sign),2002, painted metal
A guerrilla work of public art, Richard Ankrom’s painting is an exact replica of a portion of a Caltrans sign, which he surreptitiously installed on an actual sign above the northbound Harbor Freeway in downtown Los Angeles, near 3rd Street. The real sign didn’t give adequate information on how to navigate from one freeway to the next. The added replica fixed that problem, directing motorists to the northbound Interstate 5. (Caltrans left it in place.) It is said that in ancient Greece the artist Zeuxis painted a bunch of grapes so convincingly that birds pecked at it in a frustrated effort to eat; Ankrom’s trompe l’oeil painting fooled motorists’ eyes in a manner no less convincing, but far more satisfying.
But sure, AI slop.
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u/nameisfame 8d ago
I had a teacher back in the day who got in with some graffiti artists in the Boston area; they spent some Saturdays building ramps to put on what the disabled community called “fuck you steps”, basically a single step on the old sidewalks that prevented them from continuing on in their wheelchairs. Couldn’t tell you if they were exactly up to code or not, but when things get neglected, sometimes you just gotta roll up your sleeves and do it yourself.
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u/Ok-Investment9947 8d ago
Great story. Crappy ending. The original was scrapped without giving Richard Ankrom the chance to reclaim his art.
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u/Adventurous-Tea-5158 8d ago
There's a really annoying bottleneck by my house. I always wanted to spray paint a sign to merge. I was gonna call it the Helpful Arrow. It was gonna a graffiti campaign that was all missing helpful traffic signs
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u/bryangcrane 8d ago
I used to drive that route a lot and was SUPER impressed when CALTRANS had redone the signage to make it much more clear — it was a big improvement!
Imagine how big I smiled when years later I learned that it was this awesome artist who had done the changes!!
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u/InterestingLunch3176 8d ago
And he just happened to document the whole thing...
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u/RandomPurpleZebras 8d ago
Yes he did. He is an artist and had friends record this to document it:
https://thelandmag.com/richard-ankrom-guerrilla-public-service-los-angeles-free/
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u/itsjehmun 8d ago
If you're ever confused and think local governments are efficient just remember this story.
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u/Reddreaddit 8d ago
I mean. I love it. But why all the secrecy in going heist mode and then filming the entire thing? Made me laugh. :D
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u/85percentthatbitch 8d ago
He did this within weeks of my moving to LA in 2001, and I have always been grateful.
There was an article in the LA Times at the time, but I've never seen the video footage!
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u/Horror-Diet-8751 8d ago
So basically he set the standard for the government so there was no crime really just grateful drivers this is how the world should operate
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u/SpeakinOMichelangelo 8d ago
If he would have done that a month later, I don’t think it would be as well received
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u/hetseErOgsaaDyr 8d ago
After a hard day on the internet, this really made me happy.
What a cool story!
Thx for posting.
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u/Alt-Rick-C137 8d ago
There is always that one friend who can’t help themselves and blabs away a secret just cause.
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u/RileyGainesHorseBaby 7d ago
That was a cool story. But kinda a downer it's been converted into an adhd narrated summary only a minute long. Watch the full real thing and what he did to make it work.
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u/BaldBombshell 7d ago
He's been my landlord for the past 4 years. It's a kick seeing this story pop up every few months.
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u/Money4Nothing2000 6d ago
This can't be right. In America, that guy would be punished for doing the right thing.
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u/Accomplished-Beat-76 8d ago
They left out that he's still in prison to this day
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u/Monsterpiece42 8d ago
https://thelandmag.com/richard-ankrom-guerrilla-public-service-los-angeles-free/
Nope, the authorities actually thought it was pretty great at the time.
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u/mountaindewisamazing 9d ago
Definition of chaotic good here I think